The London Symphony Orchestra is delighted to announce the appointment of Valery Gergiev as its Principal Conductor from January 2007.  Valery Gergiev is internationally recognized as one of the most outstanding musicians of his generation.   Born in Moscow to Ossetian parents, he is Artistic and General Director of the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg, and Principal Guest Conductor of the Metropolitan Opera, New York.  He is Artistic Director and Founder of St Petersburg’s annual ‘Stars of the White Nights’ festival, the Moscow Easter Festival, the Gergiev Festival Rotterdam, and the Mikkeli International Festival in Finland, all featuring the opera, ballet and orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre.

Valery Gergiev, who succeeds Sir Colin Davis to become the LSO’s fifteenth Principal Conductor on an initial three-year contract, made his London debut conducting the LSO in May 1988 introducing the young violinist Vadim Repin as soloist in the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto and performing and recording for RCA/BMG the Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 2 with the teenage pianist Evgeny Kissin, the first international recording for both Mr. Gergiev and Mr. Kissin.

Mr. Gergiev recently extended his Principal Guest Conductor contract with the Metropolitan Opera through 2007-08, and his Music Director contract with the Rotterdam Philharmonic through the same season.  Going forward his concentrated activities will include his responsibilities to the Mariinsky Theatre in a dynamic period in which the original Mariinsky will be renovated, a second Mariinsky theatre will be built

and a new concert hall will be created within the historical Mariinsky workshop that burned in the fall of 2003; his appointment to the London Symphony; his Vienna, Salzburg and touring concerts with the Vienna Philharmonic; new productions at the Metropolitan Opera; and his four international festivals.

Valery Gergiev will direct twelve programmes each year with the LSO performing in the Orchestra’s home, the Barbican Centre, and will undertake a major international tour every year and projects in Europe.   In the 2005-2006 season,    Valery Gergiev will conduct four different orchestras at the Barbican Centre performing all fifteen Shostakovich Symphonies during the composer’s centennial celebration: Mariinsky Orchestra, London Symphony, Vienna Philharmonic, and the           Rotterdam Philharmonic. 

In 2007, Gergiev will bring a wide selection of repertoire to LSO audiences including some works which are unknown, or rarely performed in London. An all-Stravinsky programme in March 2007 will feature the cantata The King of the Stars, and programmes in May 2007 will include Shostakovich’s Age of Gold Suite and           Jewish Folk Poetry.   A concert performance of Glinka’s Ruslan and Ludmilla Act I, featuring Mariinsky Theatre singers, will be a highlight of June 2007.   Valery Gergiev has been a powerful force in the revival of some of Russia’s great theatre and musical traditions and is equally committed to contemporary music.

Sir Colin Davis becomes President of the London Symphony Orchestra in 2007 and will continue to work with the Orchestra for ten weeks each year.  Daniel Harding becomes Principal Guest Conductor alongside Michael Tilson Thomas in the 2006/2007 season.